While I don’t actually “space out” while driving, I do like to lay my hands on the armrests – with hand(s) gripping the steering wheel, of course – and imagine I’m hovering above the road all Thanos-like. The imagining has gotten much easier now that I have a car with an automatic transmission instead of a manual. It also doesn’t hurt that I drive over 30 miles to work, in traffic, almost daily. So my mind has time to wander, a bit.
I know I can’t be alone in this. What mental games do you BOTpeeps play when on the road?
FIRST!
wha!!? two Firstings in a row, ROM!!? impressive. most impressive. well, as always, achieving the first comment means you get the Shades of Firsting. wear them well: they’ll transport you to anyplace you want to go – mentally, if not physically:
😎
I wonder if I’m pissing off other people now… 😀
I always do that! Except, I’m not the driver… 🙁
being a passenger is even better for this kind of thing, ROM! i remember in junior high i used to conjure up all kinds of mechs and fighter planes to zip around the street while i was staring out the windows of the school bus.
I had really fast samurais and ninjas, a skateboarder, and a cow on a flying surfboard following me.
way to use the ol’ imagination, ROM! gotta keep a vigilant eye on those pesky, surfing cows. 🙂
Oh! Last thing, I’m getting free tickets to the new Total Recall movie, (advanced screening again). I’ll tell you if it’s a good movie!
let me know what you think. i’ll hold off giving you my 2 cents until after you see it.
If the kids are in the car, we’re diamond smugglers.
If I’m driving solo, I’m on stage, or in a recording booth, pretending to be Ann Rabson. Or, occasionally, James Hetfield . . .
Hey! Does this count as seconding, even if you’ve had a whole conversation up there with ROM! already?
yep! the Inviso-Shades of Seconding are yours:
it’s a blessing for all involved that there are no mics or cameras in my car, Sarah W – you’d be surprised and embarrassed by what happens when i step into the “recording booth.” 🙂
Im soooo not getting into car with you as driver…
probably a wise decision, Maryz.
Especially considering that you folks are strangers from the internet to each other. Not good to get into cars with those.
Yay the site is back!
I never thought of doing that. I might have to try it. ;D
As for what I do when driving…usually potential (or not so potential) conversations with fictional or real people. As an introvert I guess it’s to make up for my lack of outward communication. But if I’m happy I usually have to radio up and imagine myself some star or some less generic things. Like any ideas that pop up with the lyrics of the song. I pretty much never get bored while driving if it’s under 30 minutes.
woo! Back From the Hack, Armindo!
i do the same: i have conversations with people, real and imaginary, all the time. it’s one of the ways i come up with ideas for JEFbot since so many strips come out of talks i have with family and friends; sometimes i have to generate those conversations whether they’re around or not. 🙂
Good Morning BOTiverse!
I thank BADNESS I was not drinking my coffee at the moment because my monitor and keyboard at work would have gotten a Bustello Bath!
Oh dear, I guess the closest thing I can come up with is pretending to be Wonder Woman in the invisible jet….Don’t judge me!
The BIG one for me is….music….I work out musical numbers in my brain. And acts leading up to said musical numbers…And costume designs….What?!
morning, Pixie! i’m happy you got a kick out of today’s strip! (also happy your office tech didn’t get sprayed. heheh.)
no judgment – i think your Wonder Woman/invisible jet fantasies are sexy/inspired! and are your musical numbers for your pirate/wench shows? or are you putting together something you’re mentalizing from scratch?
I do tend to zone out, but in a different way.. I always end up fighting a terrible instinct to do a 180 degree turn while driving on the highway usually around 2:30 am when I’m done with a show.
Though interesting that today’s comic is about cars, someone tried to steal mine after my last show.
He didn’t realize I am from an area where one fights to gain respect..
700 fights later and two losses in all my life.. Well needless to say I now own the knife he tried to use on me.
i hate those crazy instincts while driving, Satoshieyes – i have to do some major fighting against those instincts whenever i play Burnout-type driving games, where every hill, stalled car and construction site becomes a potential ramp.
yikes! where do you live where you’re fighting people with knives? vice city???
Meh fairly dangerous city that I grew up in, but this was a biker bar I was performing at..
Some guy was trying to steal what he could I’m guessing, he just picked the wrong car, wrong owner
Sometimes when I’m driving my scooter to school or elsewhere, my mind kind of wanders off, but when I realize I spaced out, it’s like it never happened, I’m at the same spot where I started the spacing out… Makes you wonder if Aliens are messing with our minds or something… I ‘ve never driven into anything, or gotten stuck, I just get this weird dejavú feeling like its happened already or something…..
hmm. do you think it’s time we started wearing tin foil hats, DAS?
Also, I want your car! acoording to the first panel, it flies!!!
If my blood pressure falls below a certain level, I get drowsy and fall asleep. Therefore, I must keep blood moving through my body to function properly. I find this difficult on long drives as there’s little opportunity for exercise while sitting behind the wheel. Therefore, I must supply stress by applying mental pressure on myself. I do this by imagining that I’ll end up dead if I fall asleep while driving. When all else fails, I pull over and do three hundred jumping jacks. This gets my heart pumping and makes me feel awake and energized.
i’ll have to remember this the next time i’m on the road going to a convention, Rainey – my legs and butt start falling asleep so i try and stop at coffee shops or convenience stores just to keep the circulation flowing.
I tend to just let my mind wonder while I drive. Sometimes I use it as a chance to flesh out details for stories or mangas I’ve thought of.
me too! since i have a lot of time on the road driving to work, i do much of the same for JEFbot and other projects, 52pickup.
Is that a gundam hanging in the mirror?
good eye, 52pickup! it is indeed. 🙂
I like to imagine there are giant blades on the side of my car and when I’m driving down the streets the blades are slicing everything next to me. I’ve had this image in my head since I was a kid and would daydream outside my dad’s car on long trips.
Told my friends this one day and they decided it was a little too weird, even for me.
heh. i’ve done the same, TPC. too much Mad Max (and Grease?) when i was a youngling.
I haven’t gotten into the Game of Thrones thing yet, so no floating thrones for me.
I am SO glad I live close to work. I would probably crash and die if I had to drive that far every day. I am really bad about not being able to stay awake while driving if I’m tired.
heh. no actual floating thrones in Game of Thrones, Shanna, but there is a lot of fantasy! if you do get into it, i’d suggest watching when the kids are away as there’s a ton of blood, sex and violence. 🙂
i think staying up doing JEFbot at all hours has made me awesome at staying awake, Shanna – i’ve never even come close to nodding off while driving the long road to work, even when only operating on a couple hours of sleep. sadly, i think this power has also made it harder to fall asleep when i actually want too. 😛
I hate driving in LA! I listen to classical music and pretend I’m dancing around people like a ballet, instead of giving in to the insane road rage I really have because people talk too much on their phones while they’re driving.
tell me about it, FunnyShaffer! 99% of the time, when a car’s doing something weird in front of me, like slowing down too much or wandering into another lane, it’s because they’re on their cellphone! grrr…
I sometimes used to get into the right frame of mind where I could damn near imagine I was flying over the street. Then you tilt your head a centimeter in any direction and the illusion is broken.
at least when you’re driving, you don’t want to get too far into that “frame of mind,” Saeed. but when you’re in it, it’s awesome!
I don’t imagine myself hovering, but sometimes I space out, forget where I’m going, and my brain goes on auto-pilot to some other destination. The other night I was heading home from work, spaced out, and got on the wrong freeway heading to mombot’s. While engaged in deep thought, my brain must have figured it was Sunday. At least I only went a few exits before turning around, and didn’t show up to ask, “What’s for dinner?”
i used to do this all the time, SL! mostly when going to work, though – i’d be thinking about an idea for a new JEFbot or something and before i knew it, i was one or two exits past where i’m supposed to get off! haven’t done it in a while, though. maybe subconsciously, i just didn’t want to go to work. 😉
One of my favorite mental activities when I’m driving is looking at numbers around me and reducing them to a single digit. So, for example, 6421. I multiply all the numbers together, so 6×4 = 24×2 = 48×1 = 48. Then I break the digits apart and multiple them together, so 4×8 = 32, 3×2 = 6. Keep in mind that I do this very fast in my head, so I can have the answer within a few seconds of seeing a complex number.
The funny thing is, I’m not a math person. I prefer to write or act, so I also sing along with whatever’s on the iPod, practice monologues, or work out the next plot point in the current novel. But by far and away, the weirdest mental thing I do is the numbers game. Addresses, phone numbers, license plates…all are fair game.
hmm. interesting, T! i do math in my head all the time, too, but not nearly as complex as what you’re computing. when i see a number, i automatically try and divide it by 3. not sure why.
and, yes! rehearsing lines in the car is the best – you can be as loud or dramatic as you want, and though you may get some curious stares from other drivers, it’s not as bad as bothering your neighbors.
When I’m the passenger(which is always because just the thought of driving scares the crap out of me) I like to pretend I’ve been abducted be a secret organization that needs my help to take over the world. Then, when that eventually gets boring, I pull up my customization screen and turn into a badass cyber-ninja. Miles and miles of slaughter and destruction follow me as I wiels my double katana, lined with a plasma edges.
MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Fear me tiny mortals, fear me!!
…Sorry ’bout that. I got caught up in my imagination… I do this surpisingly often.
that’s pretty awesome how far into a fantasy you’ll go while in the car, Noramil! i used to come up with crazy, detailed, roleplaying stories like that, but it was usually while i was in a boring class. heheh.
you are feared. 🙂
When I’m in a car, I like to pretend the windshield is a huge customization screen. I put myself in the screen, then turn myself into a cyber-ninja with shuriken style plasma bombs, tonfa that double as semi-automatic hand guns, and a katana made of a Vibranium-Adamantium composite alloy, and the edge of the blade is one atom thick. Meaning that this sword can cut shit on a subatomic level. And yes, I start from scratch each time I get in of a car.
Didn’t mean to comment twice. My computer shut down just as I clicked the post comment button, and when I came back to check, my comment wasn’t there. So, now I look like an idiot. Feel free to mock me, I deserve it.
no prob, Noramil. commenting again is twice the fun!
and now i want “shrunken style plasma bombs.”
I came up with the idea while watching Star War when I was little. I figured if the have what are pretty much swords made out of plasma, why not other weapons. Of course the plasma bomb style shuriken didn’t come to me until I played Halo while watching an old ninja movie I borrowed. Some of my best idea come from fusing different aspect of several different worlds.
Must… resist… Crazy Ivan.
that’s the danger of letting your brain run amok while driving, Orzahn!
I’ve heard of invisible planes but not an invisible throne before
the invisible throne is much more comfortable, Jiro.
I currently only own a motorcycle (California Summers make this possible), so my favorite game has become “OH GOD EVERYTHING IS TRYING TO KILL ME GET AWAY”.
It’s really easy to play. All you have to do is expect the worst possible outcome at every possible moment and do your best to not paint the next two miles of highway with your entrails. So far I’m winning, but not for lack of everyone else doing their very best to make sure I go from being on two wheels to zero wheels.
I love my bike but sweet tapdancing Monkey Jesus does California traffic make it terrifying to ride.
heh. my crazy sis and i rented mopeds when we were in Hawaii a year or so ago, Alexander, so i semi-understand your “favorite game.” can’t imagine amping that up to riding a motorcycle in california traffic, tho! 🙂
Are u sure about ur imagination JB? Coz im sure thats ur repressive Wonderwoman wannabe side coming out.
it totally could be, Jf300. 🙂
Btw, is that a gundam i see hanging?
it is! i used to have a SD Gundam hanging from the rearview on my old car. still trying to find something cool to hang in the new one.
i suggest something of the LoZ variety, wen i had a car i had ganondorf haning from mine xD
hanging*
I saw Total Recall! First off, the three breasted girl scared me, because I didn’t see the trailers or look around on the internet about the movie.
The story was okay, the graphics were impressive, but sadly the comedy wasn’t frequent enough for me. There were lots of action scenes, and “the wife” makes a very surprising character change.
There was this one scene which is so confusing, because
(bold letters are spoilers)
Douglas had to shoot either this girl that accompanied him, or this guy he has been working with for a few years. The thing is, the movie could go several ways in that one point, so there was a lot of suspense.
It was a good watch, and I suppose it’s better than the original. (But I can’t really say that since I never saw it.)
you need to see the original, ROM! it’s WAY better than the new one – makes more sense, too. for instance: the three boobed girl is in the original, too, but it makes sense that she has three of ’em, because there’s a whole underworld of mutants, unlike in the new film. and the scene where douglas has to shoot the guy or the girl makes no sense in the new one – in the old one, he can tell what’s real or not because the guy starts to sweat when quaid pulls the gun on him – which gives him away, because, why would he be sweating if this is a delusion? in the new one, it’s because the girl’s shedding a tear – which would totally be appropriate in that situation! ugh. the old one’s a bit cheesy now, but it’s still worth seeing. 🙂
For some reason, I’m very interested in the temperature. I hafta check the temperature gauge in my car. I’ve gotta know what the temperature difference is from destination to destination. And, I’m always timing myself and trying different routes. While doing all of this, I have a movie script I’m working out that usually includes Matt Damon. I keep the movie rolling even as a passenger, especially when the conversation turns to sports. Great strip!
thanks, Lor! i’m always obsessed with my mpg. i used to calculate it in my head when i’d get gas, but my new car has a mpg readout, so i’m always trying to get the highest mpg i can. hope to see that Damon script, soon! 🙂
I tend to zone out on the two hour trip to/from my parents place. and its a straight shot with little traffic so the only thing to distract me is my ipod.
thank the gods for music, dj! definitely helps during long trips. been getting a lot of books listened to via Audible that way, too.
XD I drive a scooter to and fro, and the wind in your hair tends to make you feel like your riding a horse, or flying… in a car (usually my brother’s) it’s much more bland with no kinetic feedback… although he does have a bitchin’ stereo ^^
Ooh, wearing a trench coat on the scooter at night, kinda feel a little like Batman X3
you sir are a dangerous driver, also the freakin car isnt even touching the ground, like cruella deville! but at least ur not using ur phone
When I’m bored or frazzed, it’s BattleStar Galactica…
Frakkin’ VIPER PILOT, baby… Pew Pew Pew.
Well, I drive truck for a living. Getting on the Interstate in the middle of the night, I play out and stat up rp characters in my head. D&D, Shadowrun, pathfinder, and vampire. I imagine what it’d be like to be that character in their appropriate realm, and go to town.
Otherwise, I pretend the truck turns into a giant, monstrous, semi sapient car eating metallic beast. 🙂 Om nom nom to all the tiny cars!
The other day, I was driving between home and work and listening to pop songs, when this image popped into my head that turned into a full synchronized music video. There was an astronaut in deep space, hyperdrives, emergency repairs, crazy colors, etc. It was pretty great. My subconscious would alert me every so often that a decision needed to be made, like once I came out of it and was like, “wait, is that my exit there? yes no yes no yes no yes no yes no yes no…dang, it was.” I was like, “MAN, I wish we had brain recorders, this is an awesome music video, and I don’t think I’m up to animating the 6300 frames necessary.” Had to play the song like 10 times to nail down the details.